End-user media creation, for example, in the form of e-mail, blogs, podcasts, videoblogs, and photo-sharing is rapidly increasing. For e-mails and blogs, software comprising user interfaces is starting to make the process more user-friendly. Similarly, digital photo manipulation tools help fuel photo-sharing websites and tools. However, for projects that include time-based media like, for example, video and audio, the task of creation is still difficult and inefficient because the current paradigm is time-consuming and difficult.
Generally, a user must record a large quantity of media with a mobile device and then edit and finalize the media on a less portable computing device. Indeed, with current mechanisms for media capture, users must undergo the “capture, edit, then publish” paradigm. While some savvy end-users may learn to use the current inefficient software applications to edit and create media, such as audio journals and videos, it is time-consuming and complex. Even with less-complex software like for example, Apple® iMovie, users often do not have the time or patience to learn and master the techniques and features available on the software to edit their media. This results in the media sitting on the user's hard drive, unused and forgotten. For most users, even this level of sophistication for creation software is not necessary for casual recordings in the same way that the plethora of features available in Microsoft® Word® is not necessary for casual emails or blog entries. What is needed, therefore, are systems and methods for allowing a user to author media in a more efficient manner.